Alkylation reactions aromatic compounds

We will show here the classification procedure with a specific dataset [28]. A reaction center, the addition of a C-H bond to a C=C double bond, was chosen that comprised a variety of different reaction types such as Michael additions, Friedel-Crafts alkylation of aromatic compounds by alkenes, or photochemical reactions. We wanted to see whether these different reaction types can be discerned by this... 

Details of two related patents for the alkylation of aromatic compounds with chloroaluminate(III) ionic or chlorogallate(III) ionic liquid catalysts have become available. The first, by Seddon and co-workers [81], describes the reaction between ethene and benzene to give ethylbenzene (Scheme 5.1-51). This is carried out in an... 

Reaction No. 5 (Table 11) is part of a synthetically useful method for the alkylation of aromatic compounds. At first the aromatic carboxylic acid is reductively alkylated by way of a Birch reduction in the presence of alkyl halides, this is then followed by an eliminative decarboxylation. In reaction No. 9 decarboxylation occurs probably by oxidation at the nitrogen to the radical cation that undergoes decarboxylation (see... 

In this section, the reactivities of organosilicon compounds for the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of aromatic compounds in the presence of aluminum chloride catalyst and the mechanism of the alkylation reactions will be discus.sed, along with the orientation and isomer distribution in the products and associated problems such as the decomposition of chloroalkylsilanes to chlorosilanes.. Side reactions such as transalkylation and reorientation of alkylated products will also be mentioned, and the insertion reaction of allylsilylation and other related reactions will be explained. 

Shape selective catalysis as typically demonstrated by zeolites is of great interest from scientific as well as industrial viewpoint [17], However, the application of zeolites to organic reactions in a liquid-solid system is very limited, because of insufficient acid strength and slow diffusion of reactant molecules in small pores. We reported preliminarily that the microporous Cs salts of H3PW12O40 exhibit shape selectivity in a liquid-solid system [18]. Here we studied in more detail the acidity, micropore structure and catal3rtic activity of the Cs salts and wish to report that the acidic Cs salts exhibit efficient shape selective catalysis toward decomposition of esters, dehydration of alcohol, and alkylation of aromatic compound in liquid-solid system. The results were discussed in relation to the shape selective adsorption and the acidic properties. 

A common feature of any cyclization reaction is that a new intramolecular C—C bond is produced that would not have been formed in the absence of the catalyst. Those reactions in which one ring closure step is sufficient to explain the formation of a given cyclic product will be called simple cyclization processes, although their mechanism is, as a rule, complex. We shall distinguish those cases in which any additional skeletal rearrangement step(s) is (are) required to explain the process. Some specific varieties of hydrocarbon ring closure processes are not included. A recent excellent review deals with the formation of a second ring in an alkyl-substituted aromatic compound (12). Dehydrocyclodimerization reactions have also to be omitted—all the more since it is doubtful whether a metallic function itself is able to catalyze this process (13). 

Allylchlorosilanes undergo Friedel-Crafts alkylation with aromatic compounds such as benzene derivatives and ferrocene to give [p-(chlorosilyl)alkyl]arene compounds in the presence of Lewis acid catalyst. Allylsilanes containing two or more chlorine atoms on silicon react smoothly with benzene under mild conditions to give alkylation products in good yields [Eq. (15)]. In alkylations of benzene, the reactivity of the allylsilanes increases as the number of chlorine atoms on the silicon increases, but decreases as the number of methyl groups increases. Because the reactivity of allylsilanes is sensitive to the electronic nature of the substituents on the silicon atom, allylsilane selection is an important factor for alkylation reactions. 

Hydrogen fluoride also is used as a catalyst in alkylation of aromatic compounds and for dimerization of isobutene. Other catalytic applications are in isomerization, polymerization, and dehydration reactions. Other uses are in... 

The Friedel-Crafts alkylation of aromatic compounds by oxetanes in the presence of aluminum chloride is mechanistically similar to the solvolyses above, since the first step is electrophilic attack on the ring oxygen by aluminum chloride, followed by a nucleophilic attack on an a-carbon atom by the aromatic compound present. The reaction of 2-methyloxetane and 2-phenyloxetane with benzene, toluene and mesitylene gave 3-aryl-3 -methyl-1-propanols and 3-aryl-3-phenyl-l-propanols as the main products and in good yields (equation 27). Minor amounts of 3-chloro-l-butanol and 4-chloro-2-butanol are formed as by-products from 2-methyloxetane, and of 3-phenyl-l-propanol from 2-phenyloxetane (73ACS3944). 

It seems that other acidic sites are the most efficient for the alkylation of aromatic compounds than for the reverse reaction, the cracking of alkylaromatic compounds [361]. For the forward process, a linear correlation was observed between the activity of decationized Y zeolites and the number of acidic sites corresponding to H0 < + 3.3, whereas for the cracking, the sites corresponding to H0 < —3.0 correlated with the activity. 

In comparison with molecular catalysts, solid catalysts can be isolated from the reaction mixtures by filtration or used in continuous processes this is both environmentally friendly and useful in laboratory-scale experiments. The most important reactions catalyzed by solid superbases are isomerization reactions and the alkylation of substituted arenes in the side chain (Scheme 2). They proceed at room temperature or below with high yield (typically >99%). The surperbase-cata-lyzed alkylation of aromatic compounds complements the acid-type Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation, because the latter results in ring alkylation, whereas the former results in side-chain alkylation. 

The second important use of superbases is side-chain alkylation of aromatic compounds [22, 34]. In these reactions a benzyl anion generated by the superbase catalyst subsequently attacks olefins such as ethene or propene as a nucleophile. The result of such a nucleophilic addition of a carbanion is side-chain alkylation of the arene by ethene. The reaction was commercialized by Sumitomo for the side-chain alkylation of cumene (Scheme 5, a) [34]. 

Another synthesis of aryl-substituted methylidynetricobalt nonacar-bonyls was developed by Dolby and Robinson (15) who found that chloro-methylidynetricobalt nonacarbonyl alkylate s aromatic compounds in a Friedel-Crafts-type reaction. High product yields were obtained when equimolar amounts of ClCCo3(CO)9 and aluminum chloride and an excess of the arene were stirred at 60°-70°C for 2 hours. When the arene was a solid, the reaction was carried out in dichloromethanc solution. Both ortho and para substitution was encountered, the size of the substituent (s) already present on the benzene ring appearing to determine the position of substitution (Table IV). Noteworthy is that milder temperature conditions affected the position of substitution thus, reaction of chlorobenzene with chloromethylidynetricobalt nonacarbonyl in dichloromethane at 42° gave... 

The third case shows the immobilisation of Lewis-acidic ionic liquids. The resulting catalysts, named Novel Lewis-Acidic Catalysts (NLACs), are highly active in the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of aromatic compounds with dodecene. Conversions and selectivities to the desired monoalkylated products were excellent. No leaching of the catalytically active component could be observed. The isomer distribution of the monoalkyated products is very similar to that obtained over pure aluminum(III)chloride. The main drawback of the NLACs is that thy are very sensitive towards water, which leads to irreversible deactivation. A second problem is the deactivation after long reaction times. The most likely cause is olefin oligomerisation. 

The simplicity of the easily surveyed reaction equation is strongly misleading. The reaction mechanism of the autoxidation of alkyl-substituted aromatic compounds consists of several complex steps - free-radical chain reactions triggered by oxidation catalysts. In general, two initiation steps can be distinguished [5, 6, 10] ... 

Alkyl-substituted benzenes and alkyl-substituted aromatic compounds constitute the starting molecules. Benzaldehydes, benzyl acetates, and to some extent also benzyl alcohols are the main intermediates aromatic carboxylic acids are the desired products. The intermediate benzyl acetates, benzaldehydes, and the corresponding acids can also be formed in stoichiometric reactions with Co(OAc)3 in acetic acid in the absence of oxygen. 

In the rate-determining step the alkyl-substituted aromatic compound reacts reversibly with a Co species via electron transfer to a radical cation which forms the thermodynamically favored benzylic radical by elimination of (see eqs. (2) and (3)). Benzyl acetate is derived from the subsequent reaction of the benzyl radical with cobalt(III) acetate under anaerobic conditions (eq. (5)). 

The carbonium ion may also be formed from an alkene or alcohol. The carbonium ion formed from any of these starting materials is particularly prone to rearrangement reactions. These are called Wagner-Meerwein rearrangements, and severely limit the synthetic utility of this reaction to form simple alkyl substituted aromatic compounds. The tendency to rearrange may be reduced if the acyl derivative is used instead. This modification is called the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction, and it has the further advantage that normally only monoacylation occurs, instead of the polyalkylation that happens using the simple Friedel-Crafts reaction. 

The Friedel-Crafts alkylation of aromatic compounds is of great importance in laboratory synthesis and industrial production. For example, the industrial processes for ethylbenzene, cumene and linear alkylbenzenes, etc., are on the base of this kind of reaction. It is well known that the drawbacks of the traditional acid catalysts such as A1Q3, H SO, and HF do great harm to the equipment and the environment, and these catalysts cannot be reused after the usual aqueous work-up besides, most of the reactions are carried out in the harmful and volatile organic solvents which can cause the environmental pollution aU of these problems need the replacement of the solvents or the acid catalysts. In this context, room-temperature ionic liquids have been iuCTeasingly employed as green solvents. 

Song s group [25] has developed a novel and recyclable catalytic system for Friedel-Crafts alkylation of aromatic compounds with alkenes. The Sc(OTf)j was immobilized in the ionic Uquids, to obtain quantitatively the desired alkylated products in the reaction of Ihe allqrlation of benzene with hex-l-ene, in which the ionic liquids containing 20 mol% ScCOTl) such as [EMIM][SbFg] ([EMIM] is denoted as... 

Hafnium triflate has also been used for acylation and alkylation of aromatic compounds.64 It has also been used in aromatic nitration in a process (6.18) that eliminates the usual waste acid from such reactions.65 The products are intermediates in the synthesis of toluene diisocyanates used in making polyurethanes. The catalyst could be reused with... 

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